Lief
Lief is the main protagonist in the Deltora Quest series, current King of Deltora and one of the three people responsible for finding the seven gems and completing the Belt of Deltora. History Early Life Sharn was pregnant with Lief toward the end of Part I of The Forests of Silence, and Endon mentioned that he would be born be summer's end. ''The Forests of Silence and Jasmine as they appear in the anime.]] On Lief's sixteenth birthday, "Jarred" and "Anna" gave Lief a Sword crafted by his father, a special cloak created by his mother and a quest to recover seven mystical and powerful Gems scattered throughout the land of Deltora. Lief was entrusted with the Belt of Deltora (a magic steel belt which was made by the first King of Deltora to bear the Seven Gems and defend Deltora) and the responsibility to restore the Gems to their rightful places on the Belt. The Gems were each hidden by the Shadow Lord's servants (the seven Ak-Baba) in the most dangerous and terrifying places of the land. Lief was surprised, however, when he was told that he would have a companion on this dangerous Quest. Barda, a local beggar who was familiar to Lief, was to join him. Lief was dismayed at this news until he learned that Barda, a palace guard, was only posing as a beggar to gain information from careless Grey Guards and to hide himself behind an effective disguise. Barda had also been protecting Lief for many years without Lief’s knowledge and had, in fact, saved Lief’s life earlier that same night. Lief and Barda set off that eventful night towards the foreboding forests of silence where they were saved from the Wennbar by a wild looking girl who lived there. The girl lived in a nest (of sorts) up a tall tree with a small furry animal called Filli, and a Raven called Kree. The girl’s name was Jasmine. With Jasmine's help, Lief and Barda confronted the first gem’s guardian, the former Jalis knight Gorl, and defeated him. Barda was mortally wounded by Gorl and would have died without Jasmine's quick thinking and the magical powers of the fabled Lillies of Life. The Topaz was recovered and Jasmine joined them at their quest. The Lake of Tears City of the Rats The Shifting Sands Dread Mountain The Maze of the Beast The Valley of the Lost Return to Del Cavern of The Fear Lief and Doom head to Tora to (as implied at the time) to find a 'bride.' Lief questions Zean about defeating the Shadowlord and the subject of the Pirran Pipe arises. Once Lief discovers that Jasmine and Glock have gone to find a secret way into the shadowlands, Lief, Jinks, and Barda follow with Fury. but are captured, then escape and are captured by the Goblins. Reunited with Jasmine and Glock, Lief and Barda make a deal with the Goblins, saying that they would defeat the fear. Lief almost loses his life, but Glock kills the fear, and is honoured by the Plumes People. Lief Barda and Jasmine than take the piece of the Pirran Pipe that Glock had, and head out on the quest to find the other pieces with Flash and Fury. The Isle of Illusion Lief, Barda, Jasmine, Kree, Filli, Flash and Fury come to the lands of the Aurons tribe. They than launch themselves into the Isle of Illusion, and try to regain the second piece of the Pirran Pipe. The Shadowlands Lief, Barda, Jasmine, Kree, Filli, Flash, and Fury come to the land of the Keras Tribe, and they agree to give them their piece of the Pirran Pipe for the Belt of Deltora, Lief agrees, and they embark on a mission with a Keras Tribe member named Emlis into the shadowlands, their they are captured by the Bak Pod, and are sentenced to becoming Conversions by Tira and Helena, but Lief plays the pipe leading his people out of the shadowlands into Deltora, and frees Tira and Helena from their Conversion-Worms. Dragon's Nest Shadowgate Isle of the Dead The Sister of the South Appearance In the book series, Lief is implied to be relatively tall (he has to look down at Jasmine to speak to her, but is not as tall as Barda), lean, and athletic. He has short, dark hair, which he inherits from his Toran ancestry, indicating that he also has their dark eyes. The only common attire described that he wears is some form of jacket, boots and his ever-present cloak. In ''Shadowgate he dons the long, oily outfit of a fisherman of Broome for a while as a disguise. After his encounter with the Masked Ones, his face and neck are left scarred after Jasmine pulled off his mask, which was beginning to bond with his skin. In the anime, Lief is depicted with blond hair and blue eyes. He dresses in a light blue tunic over a black jumpsuit and wears white gloves and boots. He wears his cloak, which is a dark blue color over his shoulders. Personality Lief was once arrogant and careless, however, his various quests have mellowed him into a more careful person. However Barda continually refers to him as being 'hot-headed', which reveals his energetic and action-oriented nature, as well as the tendency to act on whims at times. He is proud and does not take well to learning that Barda was the reason for many of his lucky life-threatening escapes in the past. He is also initially prone to some other childish tendencies, such as feeling jealous when Dain showed admiration towards Jasmine. Despite all this, Lief is compassionate, kind and good-natured. He is still heavily controlled by sentiment, and lets his heart rule his head on many occasions. This is seen in his initial meeting with Jasmine, in which he struggles with the overwhelming perception that she is ruthless and cruel and the fact that the Grey Guards took her parents away when she was a child, forcing her to adopt drastic measures to survive. Later, when he hears of the powers of the Pirran Pipe, this sentiment makes him pursue Jasmine into the underground sea, regardless of there being 'pipe or no pipe' to be found there. Doom admits that this quality is what makes Lief a better king than he himself. Being raised amongst the citizens of Del in ignorance of his true status, Lief is able to feel extraordinary empathy with his subjects, and is more concerned about their health and safety as a result. The residents of Del perceive him as being a generous saviour, and would willingly give him their lives. Abilities Lief's main ability is his speed. Before going out to collect the gems of Deltora, Lief would dart around the alleyways of Del to avoid being captured and killed by the Grey Guards. Even without Barda's help, Lief was said to be able to escape from approaching Guards numerous times. In the Rithmere Games, Barda said Lief should be in the Speed category. Seeing as Lief was able to make it into the finals of the tournament, it shows that Lief is faster than many others. Aside from his physical abilities, Lief has also shown to be good at math, for his mother, required him to study the subject. He's also quite crafty and is able to create numerous plans that often help the heroes escape from dangerous foes or defeat them. However, he has several areas where's he not as adept. One being agility, whenever being forced to climb trees after Jasmine or thinking about the games he played with his friends in Del, he would often stumble or be extremely slow compared to the others. He also has trouble keeping a cool head. He is often bickering with Jasmine about some little thing and is quite rash, throwing himself into the face of danger to protect those he loves. Except for when he is told specifically not to try and do anything, then he can keep himself still. Equipment Lief has carried numerous items with him on his journey. However, there are only a few recurring items. Those would be his sword, forged specially by his father, a magical cloak that blends in with its surroundings, sewn by his mother, and the Belt of Deltora. All of these he has used frequently on his journeys. However, due to the fact that the series has very little fight sequences, Lief's sword is hardly ever used in combat. Often it's used to slash away small creatures such as the ones on the edge of the Lake of Tears and the beetles of the Shadowlands. However, he has used it against the Fear in it's titular book. His cloak is often used when the group needs to hide from Ak-Baba or other dangerous foes that can not be fought in a normal manner. The first use of the cloak is in the Forests of Silence, where the three use it initially to try and keep warm while in the tree to hide from the Wennbar. The Belt of Deltora has been used many times throughout the series that it would be quite difficult to record all uses of its magical properties. Therefore, just go with us and say that it is an incredibly important object to the plot of not only the first series, but the second and third as well. Relatives Trivia *In the end of The Sister of the South, Lief and Jasmine get married. *Lief could be named after Lief Erikson, a famous viking and explorer. *The name Lief also means heir. *Because Lief is a direct descendant of Adin, who was also a descendant of Opal the Dreamer, Lief has Plains blood. He also has Toran blood, considering his mother Sharn is Toran. Category:Characters Category:Main Characters Category:Protagonists Category:Deltoran Category:Del (tribe) Category:Kings of Deltora Category:Post-Adin Deltoran